Tasting Notes

Cedar, cinnamon, and leather accentuates a nose of cranberries and violets. Red plum and cocoa intermingle with soft vanilla undertones on the palate, with a strong tannin and acid balance.

Winemaker Notes

The 2016 Meritage is a right bank Bordeaux style blend, composed of 100% Estate Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.

35 tons of Merlot fruit was harvested on October 19, 2016. The grapes were crushed and destemmed into a 1700 gallon stainless steel tank and inoculated with BRL97 yeast, and fermented for 14 days, then pressed on 11/04/16. 4 days later, the wine was racked into French or American oak barrels, ML bacteria were added, and ML fermentation finished by mid December. 600 gal of this Merlot became the basis of the Meritage.

2 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested on October 23, 2016. It was crushed, de-stemmed, and pumped to 4 wooden bins, which were chilled by placing them in the refrigerated trailer. After the 4-day cold soak, the musts were warmed and inoculated with RC212 or BM45 yeasts, 1 yeast per bin. The fermentations lasted for 16 days, were pressed on 11/08/16, and then racked to 9 French oak barrels . The wine was inoculated with malo-lactic culture on the day of racking into barrel and ML finished by late December.

4 tons of Cab Franc from CF2 were harvested on October 23, 2016. The fruit was crushed and de-stemmed into 4 wooden bins and was cold-soaked for 4 days, then warmed and inoculated with either RC212, D254, FX10 or 3001 yeasts, 1 yeast per bin. Each lot fermented for ~10 days to near dryness. The wine was racked to French barrels and all lots were inoculated with malo-lactic bacteria in mid November. All lots finished ML by mid December.

The wines were racked after almost 9 months in barrel, the Meritage blend was assembled on July 31, 2017, then filtered and bottled on 09/07/17.